The itch that must be scratched.

This running thing, this itch that must be scratched, is new.  I have always liked to run.  At least that is what I believed.  Now, looking back, I think what I liked was the idea of running: the movement of oneself through space and time with the positive outcome of fitness without machines.  It is simple and it has a purity about it.  This time last year I would have clicked the thumbs up icon on Running’s Facebook page  and carried on with what I was doing.  It’s not like that anymore. 

 

Eleven months ago I was fifty pounds heavier.  While not technically morbidly obese, I was fat and woefully out of shape.  I had bad knees, a bad back, low “good” cholesterol (an excellent explanation of cholesterol, and why low “good” cholesterol is bad, is available  here ), had just gotten off the cardiac ward at our local hospital, and, at 42, was about to be put on Crestor for the rest of my life.  Knowing that I am not one for pills, my doctor gave me another option.  He told me that getting my heart rate up to 140 beats per minute for half an hour four times a week could help improve my good cholesterol.  He gave me four months to get my HDL from around 15 to “somewhere at least close to 40” which is where I needed to be.  Otherwise he was going to have to recommend the pills.  In the words of my 13 year old: “challenge accepted.”

 

I didn’t start running right away, or jogging even.  I didn’t even think running was a possibility.  My knees constantly bothered me and I was told I have “significant cartilage loss” in both of them.  What I started doing was riding my old Nishiki Prestige road bike in the garage on a RAD Cycle bike stand.  The doctor said half an hour, so I did an hour.  The doctor said four times a week, it became a daily routine.  Getting my heart rate up to 140 bpm was relatively easy given how out of shape I was.  At my May appointment I had lost thirty pounds and my HDL was well above 40.  No pills for me.

 

There were three other things that did during this time that, along with riding the bike, contributed to my success.  First, I started really watching what I eat.  I used the LoseIt! app to track my caloric intake and exercise burn (more on this later).  I also  dusted off the Bowflex machine I had purchased with good intentions the year before and started to use it.  The third thing I did was stop drinking alcohol.  I was not a heavy drinker, but I was a lazy drinker.  A glass of red wine a night, which some suggest has cardiac benefits, made me just relaxed enough that I didn’t feel like doing any exercise.  I figured any benefit I was deriving from wine was being expunged by the fact that I was sitting instead of moving while I was drinking it. 

 

The only downside to the weight loss was that riding my bike for an hour made my backside sore….really sore.  I had purchase a gel seat cover which helped, but I was looking for an alternative.  I had to go to California on business at the beginning of June.  The hotel I was staying at had an exercise room but no stationary bikes / spinning machines.  What they did have were treadmills and elliptical machines.  Because I weighed less, my knees hurt less but I was still afraid of the impact on a treadmill so I decided to to give the elliptical a try.  Suffice it to say I was sold on the experience.  I got a great workout, burned lots of calories, and, most importantly, my butt, or my knees, didn’t hurt when I was finished.  When I got home I found a nice NordicTrac on Craigslist. 

 

I have coached soccer at the local club for a number of years now.  During the spring season I was able to huff and puff my way through some scrimmages with the kids provided they let Coach have a few breaks during the game.  By the time the Fall season rolled around I had lost another ten or fifteen pounds and was actually able to run around on the field with the kids.  My knees didn’t bother me which I attributed mostly to the fact that I was running on grass.  At the end of practice I usually have the kids run the length of the field.  I had taken to joining them and was holding my own.  After practice one night my assistant coach, David, said, “You should do the zombie run with us”

“The what?”

“Run For Your Lives.  My son and I are doing it.  It’s like a mud run but with zombies.   You should do it.”

And that is when I got infected.